Schools fail pupils’ Olympic inspiration

The London 2012 Olympic Games have inspired half of British children to try a
new sport, but schools have failed to increase opportunities for pupils,
says a new survey.

Laura Garner became junior world champion on the road for the second time this year

By Gareth A Davies

3:37PM GMT 27 Nov 2012

The poll, of 1,006 parents, was commissioned by the Chance to Shine schools cricket campaign to see what impact the Olympics is having on school sport in Britain.

Over half of parents polled said their children have been inspired to do more sport: 15 per cent now engage in more sport outside school and 9 per cent do more in school; moreover, 15 per cent of respondents’ children have taken up a new sport in school and 12 per cent tried a new sport outside school.

However, this new enthusiasm is not reflected by the amount of sport on offer: 81 per cent of parents said the amount of PE and games has either stayed the same as before the Olympics or decreased; 54 per cent of children play less than two hours a week of PE or games at school.

Meanwhile, Olympic cycling gold medallist Laura Trott believes Lucy Garner, winner of this year’s Aviva/Telegraph Female Pupil of the Year award, has a great future ahead of her. Garner became junior world champion on the road for the second time this year.

“This is just the start of her career,” says Trott. “She’s obviously an amazing talent, and as long as she continues enjoying it she will progress, because there are the hard years ahead when you progress from junior to senior.”